There have been several reports in South Africa on the death of school children. Deaths reportedly occurred within a brief period, allegedly after children had consumed food products sold at the schools by vendors and in local small shops known as ‘spaza shops.’
On 4 November 2024, the Mail and Guardian reported that a 10-year-old girl from Alexandra died from a ‘foodborne illness’ (Aarti Bhana ‘Contaminated food claims a child’s life in Alexandra township’ (https://mg.co.za, accessed 21-2-2025)). Furthermore, that ‘since January 2024, Gauteng has had more than 372 cases of food-related illnesses and 16 fatalities’ (Bhana (op cit)). The child who passed away was believed to have purchased food and snacks from a spaza shop and died because of food poisoning. It is suspected that the root cause may be poison, as food is manufactured by unauthorised manufactures who add unsafe ingredients, or the repackaging of expired products. The incident highlights the inadequacies by government in enforcing food safety regulations, particularly in informal environments such as street vendors and spaza shops.
Foodborne illness outbreaks have long been occurring even coming from controlled environments. The one incident in South Africa that comes to mind is the listeriosis outbreak that took place in 2017-2018 with a total of 1 060 cases identified. However, the difference here is that this outbreak was controllable as the manufacture was traceable, unlike in the current circumstances where each spaza shop is suspected to have its own manufacture or warehouse where expired food gets repackaged.
Even with food regulations in place, informal food outlets, such as spaza shops, operate without adequate regulatory oversight. These shops often sell products from unauthorised manufacturers or distributors that have not been monitored in terms of meeting the basic standards of food safety and hygiene, putting consumers at risk.
In October 2024, six children died from food poisoning in Naledi, Soweto. In a media briefing, the Minister of Health confirmed that the children in Naledi died from organophosphate poisoning after eating snacks from a local spaza shop. The Minister explained that organophosphate is a substance found in pesticide, including terbufos, which was ingested by the children. How this product ended up in the food is yet to be determined.
The spaza shops, manufacturers, distributors, or street vendors could potentially face delictual damages for failing to adhere to food safety regulations if it is established that their negligence caused the deaths and illnesses of these children.
Food hygiene standards and regulations are important for the purpose of ensuring that food products sold are safe for human consumption. The incident involving the deaths and illnesses of children in South Africa after consuming unsafe food, calls for stricter regulatory enforcement in the country. Food safety management begins with manufacturers, who are required to meet strict manufacturing and hygiene standards as indicated in the regulations. Government must ensure that these standards are maintained and implemented throughout, especially in areas where there is easier access to informal shops.
Spaza shops play a key role of food supply in low-income households in the townships. They also operate without any monitoring for compliance from authorities. While these shops provide much needed access to food and convenience, they also present risks to the community if food sold is sourced from unregulated and unmonitored producers or is improperly stored and unsafe. Videos are circulating on social media showing products like ice cream being made in people’s backyards, bread being sold in shops with labels in foreign languages, and instances where products are not properly refrigerated. SABC News reported in November 2024 of a warehouse in KwaZulu-Natal in Durban where police uncovered two warehouses repackaging expired food product. This is a clear indication of the extent of a problem authorities need to address.
Authorities should hold those responsible delictually accountable for the death of those children. It may be a tall order to hold them liable but certainly not impossible if elements of delict can be proven.
If spaza shops sold food that was unsafe, they would have failed in their legal duty to provide food that is safe for human consumption. This breach of duty reflects a failure to uphold the duty of care expected of them. By negligently selling unregulated, untested, and expired food, they directly contributed to the deaths of the children, which then establishes a clear link between their conduct and the harm caused to the children.
The Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972 governs food safety and the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 governs protection of consumers and customers in South Africa.
Food products that are being sold from most spaza shops are labelled, however, on a closer look the language used is not one of the official South African languages and not one which can obviously be understood by the consumers. The contents as indicated on the product have not been verified by any authorities as accurate or safe, yet the food products are sold without any monitoring by relevant authorities.
South Africa has promulgated good regulations, for instance food labelling requirements are outlined in the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs Regulations under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act. The regulations require that before food can be sold to consumers, certain conditions have to be met. It states that all allergens in the product must be declared, ingredients must be listed, and nutrient values must be indicated on the packaging.
Section 24 read with s 22 of the Consumer Protection Act also provides for labelling of products. It requires that any labelling, packaging, or advertisement must accurately reflect the nature, quantity, and quality of the product. It further states that the labelling must be clear and in plain language, without any omissions of fact. As previously mentioned, labelling in foreign languages is being used for spaza shop products, leaving consumers to eat food with contents they do not understand.
Section 61 of the Consumer Protection Act provides for the government to hold the manufacturer liable, and accountable for harm caused by unsafe goods, including those without warnings or not correctly labelled.
Even though we have strong legislation, the enforcement in informal environments is non-existent. Food safety inspections and certifications are mostly always targeted at formal and large manufacturers, leaving gaps at spaza shops and street vendors for unauthorised food producers to do as they please, leaving the community neglected.
The lack of enforcement is not due to insufficient inspections by service departments, but rather a lack of will among those employed to enforce the regulations. Spaza shops, however, still have a duty of care to the consumers in ensuring that their products are safe and meet all necessary standards. Breach of the duty is a wrongful act and if harm occurred, they should be held liable in terms of the Consumer Protection Act.
The deaths and illnesses of children across the country from consuming unsafe food products from spaza shops reflect the shocking neglect of food hygiene and safety in South Africa today. The deaths should serve as a wake-up call for government authorities to take immediate action to tighten food safety standards and regulation enforcement across all food outlets, including informal markets.
Government must conduct its investigations properly, the result of the investigation must be used to assist the families of the affected children to pursue recourse against food sellers, the manufacturers, and distributers.
Marylise Rannenyeni LLB BSc Environmental Management (Unisa) is a legal practitioner in Pretoria.
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2025 (April) DR 10.
